This week on CCHA RinkRap: Bemidji Coach Serratore channels his ancestry, Bowling Green’s captain steps up, a crucial conversation in Copper Country, and milestones fall for two veteran stars.
The Good Life
With the center of the hockey universe turning to the Olympics in Italy in less than two years, this is a good a time catch up with Bemidji boss Tom Serratore, whose forefathers came from the old country. The man affectionately know as “Coach Tom” is currently living La Bella Vita, Italian for “the good life.” Moments after his Beavers secured five crucial road points against Northern Michigan, Serratore was noticeably absent from the coaches’ handshake conga line. He was off to the side having a friendly chat with veteran CCHA referee Derek Berkibile.
“I was just curious if you can go up top [for video review] on a shootout, then we were B.S-ing about the weekend,” Serratore said, who contrary to typical red-faced coaches confronting refs, was busy patting Berkibile on the back and ingratiating him with smiles. To many Italian Americans, talking with one’s hands can be more effective than words.
It was as if Serratore were in Cortina of the Italian Alps Hockey League (one of the Olympic hockey venues in 2026), where players, coaches and referees all live the good life of wine, women and song after spirited competition. Careful observers of Coach Tom see a man these days with a song in his heart, pacing through the Sanford Center with a jaunty step.
An hour after his visit with zebra Berkibile, Serratore was on the bus, fielding questions from a reporter via his cell phone. He had already distributed food to his players (pasta with red gravy?) and was savoring the quiet ride home. “Aw, it’s great, we just got done eating,” Serratore said. “I’m wiped out, they’re wiped out—you can’t hear their chatter—but it’s a positive wiped out. Obviously, it’s good moods.”
And why not? Serratore’s Beavers have methodically placed themselves in their best position to win the MacNaughton Cup since they pushed Minnesota State to the season’s final game in 2020. Leading the way are two studs fresh off the injury list: captain Kyle Looft and clutch scorer Jackson Jutting.
“To have that leadership coming back, of course you’re happy,” Serratore said. “They’re still banged up, playing with a lot of bumps and bruises. It’s why they’re leaders, why they’re captains. Not only do they bring the level of play up, but they bring stability to the locker room.”
The Bemidji program is still reaping the recruiting benefits from their NCAA success of 2021, landing elite prospects Lleyton Roed in 2022 and Eric Pohlkamp this season. Lost in that star power is another warrior from the State of Hockey, Adam Flammang of St. Michael. Sophomore Flammang has been the Beavers’ hottest scorer of late, going 4-3-7 in Bemidji’s last five games.
“He plays a real heavy game, provides a lot of stability down low,” Serratore said of Flammang. “He can possess the puck, make plays in traffic, and has an absolute missile of a shot.” The sophomore punctured Northern goalie Beni Halasz three times this past weekend, crucial tallies in a pair of one-goal games.
And when it comes to the most important position in hockey—goaltender—Serratore barely conceals his Cheshire-Cat grin when describing all-conference Mattias Sholl. “He played really well, really big in the shootout,” Serratore said of Sholl. “It was great, goose eggs on three shots. I was happy for Shollsy, he’s seeing the puck really good right now.”
The five-foot-eleven Sholl fights hard to see the puck well, channeling his childhood hero Jonathan Quick by straining his neck between legs and around sticks to set himself for every shot.
With a hot goaltender, a healthy roster, and his Beavers controlling their own destiny, does Serratore dare to imagine hoisting MacNaughton three weeks from now?
“I just won’t talk about it,” snapped Serratore, the man who has coached Bemidji since 2001. “I’ve been in it too long to look too far ahead. Whatever you talk about, the opposite happens, and you get punched in the nose.”
The wise elder wrapped up his phone call, then reclined his seat at the front of the bus, settling in for another six hours of motoring toward his happy home. In a profession that demands stress management as a prerequisite, Serratore is living hockey’s version of la bella vita. The road toward two major trophies lay before him, no hazards in sight.
Flying Falcons
Bowling Green is doing what every CCHA team yearns to do—sweep weekend series. The Falcons have come off consecutive sweeps—on the road vs Ferris and at home against Lake State—amassing 12 points in the standings in eight days. They have surged into fourth place, one of the coveted home ice spots for the forthcoming Mason Cup playoffs. If seeding holds, bowling Green will make the CCHA semifinals, a scenario few could have imagined in November.
“Our goal coming into the weekend was to get six points,” Eigner said in Saturday’s post game, “we all know how difficult that is.” The biggest key to secure a sweep is the so-called “fourth period,” the opening stanza of game two. In the last two weekends, Eigner’s squad owned the fourth period, jumping off to a 2-0 lead against Ferris two weeks ago, and a 3-0 lead against Lake State on Saturday.
“Scoring first is huge,” Eigner said. “Three is a big thing.”
The guy that got it all started was the Falcons unofficial captain but unquestioned leader Ethan Scardina. He popped in the first two goals within the first nine minutes of Saturday’s game. To Falcon insiders, Scardina is college hockey’s answer to legendary leader Mark Messier. Scardina has carried Bowling Green on their near-miraculous return to contention, something not lost on NHL cup-winning executives like George McPhee (Vegas) and Brian MacLellan (Washington), both loyal BG hockey alums. One of them will surely give Scardina a pro tryout when his college days are over.
Scardina’s first goal came on the power play, a major factor in their latest sweep. Bowling Green’s success while a man up (three goals in six chances) came via a simple formula. “Just put it where the net is,” Scardina said, eliciting laughter in the post-game presser. The captain, however, remained serious. “We haven’t been doing that that much. Nice to get things rolling.”
Also fueling Bowling Green’s resurgence is the pure mania of the faithful fans of Slater, this season more than ever. “This is a really fun building,” Eigner said with gratitude. “Damon Whitten (LSSU coach) said, ‘This is as fun a weekend as we’ve had all year in terms of atmosphere.’”
Bowling Green’s remarkable turnaround has them pointed toward home ice in the CCHA quarterfinals. It would be entirely fitting that the Madhouse on Mercer—an energy source that maintained hockey joy in a season that nearly imploded—would get to host the first round.
The Conversation
Last week, Michigan Tech Coach Joe Shawhan sensed his Huskies’ season of promise slipping away. After forfeiting five of six points to rival Northern Michigan, his club was not only losing ground in the standings, but he was in a danger of losing his team. Even after giving his squad this past Monday off, the players were going through the motions in Tuesday’s practice. Shawhan read the body language of sophomore centerman Kash Rasmussen, and it was decidedly blue. After practice, the coach initiated a vital conversation, allowing his player to share the team’s mood. “We’re having trouble believing, we’re losing belief in ourselves,” said Rasmussen.
“We had a great talk,” Shawhan said. “How can we pull together, how can you support each other, how can we support you?” Were the critical talking points
Days later, the Huskies overcame a rash of injuries and played league powerhouse Minnesota State to a draw, winning the MacInnes Trophy for their efforts. It is impossible to say if any more trophies will be added to the MacInnes vault this year, but in front of Husky nation, a dormant team returned to life. The primary assist goes to the clutch conversation between Shawhan and Rasmussen.
A Mentor and a Milestone
Andre Ghantous has been piling up points in Marquette since before the pandemic, before the new CCHA. He is hockey bedrock at Northern Michigan, a player few can recall ever not being in the Wildcats lineup. As an elite marksman who won a scoring title as a sophomore, Ghantous has been a compiler, the nation’s leading active scorer. These days he approaches and passes career scoring milestones as a matter of course.
On Saturday he blasted a clutch goal past Bemidji’s Mattias Sholl for his 150th point, a far grander event than his 149th point the night before, an assist added 20 minutes after the goal was scored.
In the post-game, Wildcats coach Grant Potulny—a prodigious scorer in his own college career, acknowledged the milestone. “There are very few guys that get to 100, very few,” said Potulny. “One hundred and fifty is a whole lot of points.”
But Potulny continued, citing a refrain he has often used when describing Ghantous. “There are times when he is the best player in the league . . . We’d like to see it more often.” This call out was used when Ghantous reached 100 points last season and again during CCHA media day in September. Every time Potulny is asked to celebrate Ghantous, the coach uses the opportunity to challenge his star to greater heights.
Clues as to why Potulny presses his star can be found in hockey’s trusted database “HockeyDB.” When playing a generation ago for Minnesota, Potulny had nearly identical scoring stats as Ghantous. Both had their biggest seasons as sophomores, the year Ghantous won his WCHA scoring title. Both tailed off slightly the next two years. There are other similarities: both wore a captain’s ‘C’ their final year, an ‘A’ the year before that.
Through that prism, Potulny’s constructive criticism makes sense. In essence, the coach likely sees himself when he urges Ghantous to return to the form of his sophomore season. Good is the enemy of great. Be great says the mentor to his understudy.
Sam, by the Numbers
For the first six weeks of the 2022-23 season, Sam Morton was the straw that stirred Minnesota State’s offense. Coming off the 2022 NCAA title game in which he scored the Mavericks’ only goal, Morton hummed along last season at a prodigious clip: six goals in nine games. It was a heady average of two goals every three games, .667 according to the imprecise decimal.
Then, early in his 10th game against St. Thomas, Morton was the victim of hockey’s nasty business referred euphemistically as “finishing a check.” Originally it appeared that Morton was concussed from the high hit into the glass, but the long-term damage was done below his waist. Morton’s knee, and his season, were done, and the Mavericks went into a month-long tailspin.
Furious rehab was required, and Morton pulled a full “Gandalf” from the Lord of the Rings lore, returning as a player that resembled the old Sam—just as quick—but smarter, with a faster trigger-finger. He resumed scoring at a great clip once again, launching himself among the national leaders. And on Saturday at Michigan Tech, Sudden Sam hit a milestone that only the elite can attain in today’s game of swarming defensive layers: 20 goals in a single season. A closer look reveals that Morton has achieved that magic ratio once again: 20 goals in 30 games, or .667, a testament to his prowess.